Hovering aircraft, be they helicopters, thrust-vectoring jets, “tail-sitters,” or other types, usually land by gently descending in free thrust-borne flight onto a landing surface, coming to rest on an undercarriage of wheels, skids, or legs. This elementary technique can be problematic in certain situations, as for example when targeting a small, windswept landing pad on a ship moving in a rough sea. Helicopters use the well-known Beartrap or RAST (Stewart & Baekken 1968) or the harpoon-and-grid system (Wolters & Reimering 1994) to enable retrieval with acceptable safety in such conditions. These systems require an expensive and substantial plant in the landing area, as well as manual operations coordinated between helicopter and shipboard crew. Furthermore, the helicopter must carry a complete undercarriage in addition to the components necessary for capturing the retrieval apparatus.
Desirable improvements relative to such systems include: (1) simplification of base and onboard apparatus, and (2) automated rather than manual operation. Ideally, automation encompasses not only retrieval but also subsequent servicing and launch. This is particularly desirable for an unmanned aircraft, whose operations cycle can then be made fully autonomous.